"Umm Maddie are you okay?" asked Annie as the three of them were walking back to their rooms.
The stars were twinkling in the sky, and there was a somewhat somber feeling in the air, especially between Annie, Maddie and Matt.
"What do you mean? I am perfectly fine" said Maddie as she smiled, she looked unfazed, like nothing had happened at all.
"Are you sure Maddie?" asked Matt
"Of course I am sure, I am perfectly fine" replied Maddie as she walked ahead of them both.
"You both worry too much" said Maddie as she waved them off.
Stella had waited for a reaction, but she got nothing, she thought that Maddie was probably still trying to process the information, the girl had just lost her mother after all, even though she was sure that their relationship was not on the best of terms she was still her mother, so she sent them back to their rooms, so Maddie could take the news in gently.
"I don't think that she's alright" said Matt as he looked at Annie and mind linked her.
"Yeah, I think you are right" said Annie as she looked at Matt and replied.
"You know how Maddie it, she won't tell us if something is wrong, she would rather keep it to herself" said Matt.
"*Sigh* I know, But don't worry I will talk to her later, maybe she will talk to me then" said Annie
"Okay then goodluck" said Matt as he nodded.
"Thank you" said Annie as she nodded back.
"Hey why are you two so quiet??" asked Maddie as she stopped walking and she turned around to look at Annie and Matt, they were being awfully quiet, like someone just died.
"It's nothing Maddie, just looking at the stars" said Matt.
"Is that so?" asked Maddie suspiciously.
"Of course, look at how pretty they are" said Annie as she pointed up, as she covered the fact that she and Matt were talking about her.
"Okay you are right" said Maddie as she looked up.
"Well anyway, this is goodbye" said Maddie as she looked at Matt.
"Goodnight Matt, see you tomorrow" said Maddie
"Ahh Goodnight Maddie, have sweet dreams" said Matt.
"Hmm, you two" said Maddie as she smiled.
"Come on let's go Annie" said Maddie as she walked to her room.
"Oh alright" said Annie.
"Goodnight Matt" said Annie as she waved at him.
"Goodnight Annie" said Matt as he waved back, they were both extremely worried about Maddie.
Meanwhile back in Stella's office.
"How was the attack??" asked Captious, as he Stella and Sapiens were having a private meeting.
"Oh Captious, it was unsuccessful" said Stella as she poured herself a cup of tea to calm herself down, she was seriously stressed.
"How so?" asked Sapiens as he put down his teacup.
"Well for one Azazel did not show up at all" said Stella as she sat back down.
"As if he left his people there to suffer on their own" said Stella
"Not one single sign of him" she said as she was frustrated.
"As expected of Azazel, he cares for nothing and no one" said Sapiens
"And he was the actual target, we just used that as a distraction, to get his attention" said Stella as she sipped her tea.
"I would not be surprised if he knew that out true intention was to aim for him directly" said Captious.
"I could handle that, but that is not even the worst part" said Stella
"Oh really?" asked Sapiens.
"Yes because the watchers who were overseeing everything brought the sad news that amidst the attack, Maddie's mother died" said Stella as she sighed and looked down.
"My goodness, does Maddie know?" asked Sapiens.
"Yes she knows, I told her earlier" said Stella as she sighed.
"Do we in any way have anything to do with it?" asked Captious carefully.
"Oh no we don't" said Stella and Captious looked relieved.
He just wanted to take precautions, if they had anything to do with Clove's death it would spell trouble on their side, regardless of if Maddie was truly on their side on not, if she had even the slightest fondness for her mother, and they had something to do with her death, she was begin to abour them little by little.
And ultimately she would destroy them from the inside, considering her close relationship with Annie.
You could call him mean for thinking all this, but you had to be realistic, she is the daughter of the witch realm number one enemy, and she could not change that even if she tried.
"None of our attacks actually harmed anyone, it was just to give them a little scare" said Stella
"But she must have had enemies within the camp that took the opportunity of the chaos at that time to take their revenge" said Stella
"Well a very bold move if you ask me" said Sapiens
"Whoever did that, has no fear or reverence for Azazel at all, they were not even a bit the slightest worried about what he would do to them, if he found out they were the ones who killed his wife" said Sapiens.
"The person must have a very good back-up plan then" said Captious.
"Doesn't this work to our advantage? wouldn't Azazel be weak and in mourning?" asked Sapiens
"I highly doubt that" said Stella
"From what I know, Azazel would never let himself be weak, not to talk about mourning, no one really knew the true state of his relationship with his wife" said Stella
"For all we know, he could have despised her, and this could be a great relief to him" said Stella
"Well I think that this conversation should end here, it is easily turning into idle gossip" said Captious, who told you that men did not gossip too?
"I believe so too" said Sapiens as he laughed.
"Well alright then, but I am truly, deeply worried about Maddie right now" said Stella
Meanwhile in Matt's room.
"Curtis you knew what was going on didn't you??" asked Matt.
"What do you mean??" asked Curtis as he looked clueless.
"I mean everything, the attack, the library being sealed, and finally Maddie's mom's death" said Matt.
He had never seen Maddie's mother or Azazel, but in the end they were his friend's parents.
"The attack yes, the library sealed, no, and Clove's death, yes, Stella informed me earlier" said Curtis
"How do you always know?" asked Matt
"It's experience boy, experience" said Curtis
Matt looked weirded out, because right now, Curtis was calling him a boy, while he looked like they were the same age.
"I am worried about Maddie, she claims that she's fine, but me and Annie know that she's not" said Matt.
"Well you and Annie worry too much, Maddie is a strong girl" said Curtis
"You both must be making a fuss out of nothing" said Curtis
"You forget that she's the same girl who disobeyed her parents to come along with us" said Curtis, he had no doubt in his mind that this would no affect Maddie at all.
"Yeah true, but they are still her parents, she was still her mother, there is no way that she doesn't feel anything at all" said Matt
"How are you so sure?" asked Curtis
"Well I am not" said Matt.
"So stop worrying over nothing" said Curtis
"But she's my friend and I care for her, me and Annie, we both care for her, of course we worry" said Matt
"Take it from me, Maddie is fine" said Curtis
"And if she's not, I will play Chess with her, and I will let her win, that should boost her spirit" said Curtis
"Wow Curtis" said Matt as he shook his head.
Meanwhile back in Annie and Maddie's room.
Annie watched Maddie do her before sleeping routine, and she waited until Maddie got into bed before she decided that it was the perfect time for them to talk.
"Hey Maddie" said Annie
"Mhmm what is it?" asked Maddie as she had her eyes closed.
"Can we talk?" asked Annie
"*Sigh* fine about what" said Maddie as she turned to face Annie.
"How do you feel?" asked Annie
"Again with this question" said Maddie as she looked annoyed.
"But you just lost your mother, of course we would ask how you are doing" said Annie
"Okay correction Annie, I do not have a mother, she was just the woman who gave birth to me, nothing more nothing less" said Maddie
"Maddie how can you say that?" asked Annie
"Look Annie, I don't blame you, you don't know how it feels not to feel like you are loved, you don't know how it feels, to cry for someone to help you and yet they just stand there looking at you with no emotion at all" said Maddie
"Maddie, I'm sorry I didn't mean to--" said Annie
"It's fine Annie, I don't want to talk anymore, I want to go to sleep in peace" said Maddie as she turned her head to the other side.
"Goodnight" said Maddie as she closed her eyes, she did not want to talk about this anymore, it was just too painful for her right now.
"Goodnight" said Annie as she looked at Maddie's back that was turned to her, she had a sad look on her face.